


Late Night at the Office

by AgentClank



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 16:21:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11165550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentClank/pseuds/AgentClank
Summary: Judy Hopps stays late to finish up paperwork that she's been neglecting. But the ZPD has a very different atmosphere at night. Is there anything weird going on at the police department?





	Late Night at the Office

There we were, walking down the hallways of the ZPD, the smell of coffee wafting around, the gentle noise of ceiling fans humming through the department. I, Judy Hopps, and my partner, Nick Wilde, on the way to the store with our requisitions forms. Things had been a little humdrum at work as of late, so our chats tended to lead to other avenues.

"Come on. You don't think there's a chance that there's anything? Like ever?" I quipped.

"You've been watching too much Celebrity Ghost Stories, Carrots." he chuckled back.

"I'm not saying you're wrong, but you are being a little dismissive."

"And what do you think?"

"Nothing! I'm just saying, have a little curiosity. Expand your mind a little. I'm happy to just say 'I don't know' rather than be so sure about what is and isn't."

This fox then turned to me and smirked, petting me on the head. I giggled out an "I hate you."

"Tell you what, if you wanna go explore that old house, I'll take Friday off and we can go this weekend. Check it out then, then hang around with your parents on Saturday. Sound good?"

"That sounds great actually. Now, how about-"

"HOPPS!"

came the booming voice of Bogo as I twitched and froze in my tracks. Turning around, I saw him coming up behind us. Even if he wasn't twenty to thirty times my size, I feet like he'd still have the imposing presence from his overly heavy upper build.

I smiled nervously and went up to greet him. "Hi Chief!"

Nick slid up next to me.

"Wilde." he nodded. "Hopps, have you been getting my emails?"

"Yes sir."

"And what is the status of all those reports you were supposed to have filed?" he smiled.

"T-they're um, in progress."

"You know how long records has been waiting for them."

"Yessir."

"Good. Have them in by Friday, or you're on desk duty for the next two weeks."

"Yes sir."

With that sorted out, Bogo returned to his usual scowl and walked past us. I turned around and Nick was giving me the eyebrow.

"Don't judge."

"I didn't say nothin'."

"Don't give me that face."

"What face?" he smirked.

I gave him the stink eye in return. I then realized that it would cut into the plan we had just made a few moments ago.

"Gosh darnit. I don't have enough time to sort everything out AND get Friday off."

"Oh dang," he responded.

"What now?"  
  


11:07pm.

I was maybe 80% through with my filing.

A blip appeared on my computer screen. It was the man himself.

_so how's it coming along  
still at it?_

I let out a yawn and tabbed to him.

_ Yeah. Not too much more.  _

_good good_

I peered out the window. God, it was really late. I'd be in bed by now.

_oh btw, grizzoli wants to join us too_  
he actually has a friend who lives out in bunnyburrow  
wants to hang with her a little and pass her something

The clock ticked on. A few minutes passed. My eyes began to close slowly, before I snapped myself out of it.

_Oh yeah sure, bring him in.  
I'm gonna go get coffee or something. Brb. _

_k_

I hopped out from my chair and went into the hallway, the motion detector switching on the lights for me. Down the hallway I went, taking passing glances into offices to see if anyone else was around. It was eerily quiet. I'd never really been here at night, come to think of it. It was weird without the hustle and bustle, without the phones ringing and people talking and printers printing. I could actually call out and there'd be an echo returning to me. A slight one, but one nonetheless. There was also a slight humming noise, probably from some machine somewhere.  
  


Stepping into the cafeteria, I thought I heard someone leave through the other exit. I called out "Hello?" but there was no response. I shrugged to no one in particular and headed to the vending machine, getting out my wallet.

Quarters in and cup on the platform, I clicked on the combination for the doubleshot espresso. The machine whirred to life, starting to fill the cup before stopping halfway and making a choking sound.

What the heck, I thought. The machine sputtered a little bit before stopping, yet the marquee continued to say "dispensing." I perked my ears inquisitively, banging on the side of the machine a little. It sputtered a little, but nothing seemed to change. Feeling a little frustrated, I tried shaking the machine, although it barely budged.

"This machine operated by Covfefe Industries Inc. For assistance, call 555-1729" the card on the side read. I took a picture of the machine and my half cup of coffee to send to them later. Getting back to the matter at hand, I needed to get my coffee. I tried pounding the machine a little more, pressing some of the buttons randomly, and putting in an extra quarter.

Annoyed at this point, I slid my lithe rabbit body between it and the vending machine next to it. Reaching out my paw, I grabbed the plug and pulled it out of the wall. Struggling to find exactly where the holes were, I slid it back into the outlet.

A spark fizzled. The lights in the room went out.

Crap.

My eyes bulged open and I slid back out from between the machines.

Did I do that?

The entire place was dark, not just the cafeteria. I reached into my pocket for my phone and turned on the flashlight, looking around. Fumbling around, I clambered onto a table and dialed the reception. Two beeps. Four beeps. Ten beeps. No answer, which was quite odd actually. I swear MacDonnell should have been there. Maybe he went to the restroom?

At this point the coffee machine sputtered out a little bit more coffee into the cup, and I jumped. I groaned at it before jumping off the table.

Flashlight on, I turned around and headed back out the cafeteria. Lights in the window down the corridor indicated to me that it was only the police department that was out. I headed towards them and peered out. Yep, it was only us.

Backing away from the window, I turned around, only to see something moving out of the corner out of my eye. I turned my head and looked down the hallway it was at, but there was nothing.

Perhaps the fatigue was getting to me.  
  


Five minutes later and the lights still hadn't come back on.

I walked down the corridor on the way to the main hallway. Next stop was reception. MacDonnell should be there somewhere. Maybe he'd already called someone to deal with the power.

As I was walking through the corridor, I heard footsteps. "Hello?" I called out. Now I was sure there was someone there, so I called out again a little louder.

"Hello?!"

No response.

Frustrating.

I don't know. It had been a long night.

I continued on down the hallway, noting the absence of the humming. Lights flashed across the wall as a couple of cars passed by. The air was thick and still without the ventilation system cycling it. I felt a little jumpy, as though I was going to run into someone at any moment. At the very least, I wasn't sleepy anymore.

Arriving at the lobby, I hit up the front desk and... nothing. There was nobody here either. How odd. I looked around and called out, but to no avail. I checked his seat to see if it was still warm, and it wasn't, so he must have been gone for a while.

The lobby felt a little hazy, and I kept seeing specks of light out of the corner of my eye. It seemed like there was a thin, barely visible cloud of steam along the floor. I wondered if I had falled asleep or something and was just dreaming this. I jumped up and down a couple times. Heading to the desk, I pulled out a handbook and turned to page four, reading the first few word. Closing the book, I opened it again and checked it again.

"In the event of"

Nope, I was awake.

Where was everyone, anyone though? This was a little spooky.  
  


I had been waiting a few minutes to see if MacDonnell would return.

It didn't seem like it, and as I turned around to leave, something began knocking somewhere up in the mezzanine.

I froze, staring up in the direction of the knocks, my eyes wide open, unable to blink. Other sounds seemed to fade as my ears stood erect, paying attention only to the constant bang bang bang that had no source upstairs. Time appeared to freeze: no cars passed by, no lights turned on or off, and nothing moved. It was just me and the drumming. A consistent beat that went on, almost like a soundtrack.

Nothing seemed to be happening.

Finally the knocking began to fade. I put my hand over my heart, which was beating fast, even for a rabbit. This was turning out to be a weird night. I used my phone's flashlight to scour the area, but it was too dim at this distance to be of any use.

I called out again, and nothing. There had to be something happening upstairs, and it had to be completely humdrum. Nothing to worry about.

My phone beeped with the 20% battery warning. I turned off the flashlight. Looks like I'd have to conserve.

I started my exit, carefully trodding over to the doorway, peering around it before stepping out into the corridor. I felt as though everything that had been going on was in my head. Maybe Nick was right, and I needed to lay off horror for a bit.

Next stop to make was my office. I was gonna fetch my map of the building and find out where the main switchboard was. I slowly made my way down the hallway, being sure to look around every corner before continuing on my way to my destination. Perhaps I was being a little jumpy, but this nonetheless helped calm my nerves a little.

I struggled a little with finding my way there. I knew where to go, but I had to feel my way around the walls, since I was operating blind.

Now that I thought about it, I'd never realized how labyrinthian the ZPD was. It was a veritable maze of corridors and rooms, which was probably to be expected given the size of the police department.

I turned another corner and then I saw something.

A shadowy figure down the hallway.

I froze again, afraid to move, my ears perking up as high as they could go, my heart thumping, my feet ready to take me as I needed to go. It just stood there, gazing at me. What seemed like an hour passed as I stared back, my breathing getting fast.

I finally called out.

"H-hello?"

It didn't move.

I must be nuts. This must be nothing, I thought. I then pulled (or rather, fumbled) out my phone. I turned the flashlight on and pointed it down the hallway. It was gone.

Or rather, there was nothing there. Except I knew there WAS something there a moment ago.

Right?

I turned around, checking behind me at every corner and every window. I wasn't going crazy or anything.

Keep it together Judy.

I inhaled and exhaled a few times, before slowly moving down that hallway, taking each step carefully and listening out for any squeak or footstep. My heartbeat slowed a little, just enough to call it "elevated." I passed by another office and there was something in the window. I flashed my light at it, and it was a coat. See, nothing at all, I kept telling myself.

13% battery remaining.

"Shit," I muttered to myself. I was going to have to conserve. Breathing heavily, I turned it off, but kept it in my hand.  
  


Bogo's office. Not too much further now.

I continued to check every corner and peer behind me.

Get the map, find out where the mains is, pick up my actual flashlight, and see if I can't get some form of power back on.

Why didn't the backup generator kick in anyway? Did we even have one? That seems like something that would be pretty important for a police department to have, especially one as large as this.

Finally I arrived at my office, and as I approached...

There it was.

I'm sure of it.

I froze again. I don't know why: maybe it's an instinctual reaction to prevent movement in the hopes that it wouldn't see me?

I took charge of my body and reached for phone's flashlight function.

At that point, it opened its eyes.

They had a dim red glow.

I booked it immediately, running as fast as my little bunny legs would take me. Back through the hallways, doorways blurring past me, I just kept going.

Back to the lobby, there was light there. That was the plan.

Almost there.

I slowed down to more of a jogging pace, turning around to check behind me. It hadn't followed me, I don't think. What in tarnation was that thing, anyway?

Stopping and turning around, I fumbled around with my phone and turned the light back on. I flashed it down the corridor, searching for anything that might have hinted it was following me.

A part of the flooring creaked under and I yelped, jumping up and over.

I began to walk backwards from it, shining my light at it before checking the entire passageway.

What was I going to do anyway?

Just leave the building, Judy.

And yeah, come back tomorrow. And nothing will have happened, or at least nothing that anyone would believe had happened. The power just went out, that's all. And conveniently with it, anything that the security cameras might have caught. What a brilliant idea.

As opposed to staying here and what, recording with the 10% of battery left? I mean there's no chance that it's just some guy with a knife, right?

I stopped and turned around, in anticipation of the doorway back to the lobby.

And bumped straight into it.

I screamed and backed off, falling down onto my behind. Scrambling away from it, I pointed my light forward. It was someone, or some thing, in a cloak. I panicked and dropped my phone, shuffling backwards away from it, as it began to move towards me, arm outstretched, a red hue emanating from the hood.

At that moment there was a thud in the distance, followed by the whirring of a generator starting up.

The lights came back on.

The figure was now visible, and it began to laugh. I stared in confusion for a second. It then started to remove its hood.

I yelled, then groaned.

"Hey baby, whatchu doing on the floor?" that piece of shit fox said, extending a paw to me.

I grinded my teeth and took his hand, getting up. I then threw a punch at him, opening my fist at the last moment.

"What the hell, Nick?"

"Ow, geez. Sorry, heheh, too much?" He took out a radio and called in, "Good job, Ben. Perfect timing on that."

The sound of a cheetah giggling came out. "Not a problem."

"Clawhauser? Wait, so the lights were your doing."

"Yepperoonis."

I took a step forward and threw a haymaker at his arm.

"OW!" he flinched, gripping where I had hit him. "Dammit, Judy..."

"What was all this? You just decided to give me the fright of my life?"

He chuckled, rubbing his arm. "Look, you were groaning about having to stay so late to finish up, so we just thought, you know, maybe make the night a little more interesting for her. Eh?" he gestured, waving his arms.

"I can't believe you," I said, rubbing my temples.

That smug smile never left his face.  
  


"WILDE. COFFEE. BLACK."

came the bellow from Bogo's office.

"C-coming, sir!" I yelled back.

"NOW!"

I dropped the stack of papers, rushing towards the pantry. I grabbed a cup and just my luck, the pot was out. I scrambled through the drawers, searching for the packages of brew, and found one just before ripping it open, nevermind that I'd made a mess. I'd just come back and clean it up later.

I poured it out as soon as it finished brewing.

"WIIIIIILDE!"

I raced back towards his office, almost tripping over a stoat who shook his fist at me and went "Hey, watch it buddy!"

I practically bashed the door open, panting slightly, less out of fatigue and more out of fear.

The large Cape buffalo scowled, adjusting his glasses before turning over to look at me.

"Here you go, sir!"

He smiled an insincere smile at me.

"Thank you."

I saluted and started to leave before-

"Oh, by the way, Unit 8 got into a mishap at the farmer's market while chasing someone down. Cart of eggplants. Their squad car is a mess. Tell Clawhauser I want it spotless by the end of today."

"Y-yes, sir."

"Now get out."

I hastily complied, rushing out and back towards the stack of papers that I'd dropped earlier. Gathering them up and bringing them back to my office, I plopped down at my desk and sighed. Chief Bogo had really not taken kindly to us messing with the power box, given that they had to call in mechanics to deal with a malfunction we caused.

I stared out the window. It was looking to be a beautiful day outside. Great Saturday for going to the park or catching a movie. Not something we had the pleasure of, since the chief had moved all our shifts upwards as punishment and relegated us to all these menial tasks.

My computer beeped with the sound of my messenger program. Peering up, I tabbed to the window. It was a selfie from Judy, her tongue stuck out, her other paw making a V sign, wearing a skimpy two piece in front of a lake with some of her siblings posing in the background.

_Wish you were here,_ followed by a  kissing face emoji.

I slapped myself mentally. Guess I did deserve it a little.

**Author's Note:**

> But what happened to that MacDonnell fellow?


End file.
